


Little Talks

by ghostyouknow



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, F/M, Fallen Castiel, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Season/Series 05
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-12
Updated: 2013-06-12
Packaged: 2017-12-14 17:27:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/839465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostyouknow/pseuds/ghostyouknow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Picks up directly after <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/551089">Unexpected</a>.</p><p>It's the end of the world, and Castiel's powers are fading. The fact that he's in an omega vessel creates some extra complications.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Talks

Dean woke up an unmistakable rhythmic squeaking coming through the other side of the motel wall, not to mention the slight taste of alpha-omega mating floating on the air. He shoved his spare pillow against his far ear and tried not to listen, like it was possible to ignore that shit once noticed. He didn't have to look around to know that Sam was long gone—he'd probably decided to sleep in the car.

He heard Castiel's voice. Jo's too.

He removed the pillow.

“You're okay,” Jo was telling Castiel. “You're fine.”

What the hell were they getting up to in there? Dean liked Jo. He didn't want to have to kick her ass for hurting Cas, like he wouldn't also tear Cas a new one for Jo's sake.

But he would, dammit, if it came down to it. Castiel was an angel. His hormones weren't supposed to hijack him into getting screwed into mattresses at crappy motels. The least she could do was not scare the crap out of him—

Except that's when Cas led out a startled, very happy moan.

“See?” Jo said. “That way you control the—whoa, tiger.”

Dean got up, grabbing his coat and wallet. He'd noticed a bar in walking distance, and this was exactly the sort of thing that called for drinking himself to sleep.

#

Jo popped in the next morning, while Sam was out getting breakfast. “So Cas and I already heard from the manager. He's a little pissed Cas quote-on-quote forgot his pill.”

“You didn't rip his head off?” Dean asked.

Jo smiled. She looked tired, but in that good sort of way, and even Dean could sense how much she smelled like Cas. “Nah. But I'm thinking we should probably go somewhere with thicker walls the next time.”

“There's not going to be a next time.”

Jo lifted an eyebrow. “He's an omega, Dean. Physically, at least. He's going to be dealing with this the rest of his life.”

“Me and Sam'll get him on suppressants.” Dean remembered that Castiel had been the one to suggest those. “I mean, we'll get him suppressants. He said yesterday he wanted them.”

“The suppressants have to be dealt with, too. Miss a dose, and you can find yourself in trouble real fast. Sometimes you have to try a few brands before you find the one that works for you. Ash tried one that gave him the worst headaches. He even lost his cool.” Jo went quiet for a sec. “It's not like Cas was a beta who suddenly grew a vagina. He didn't even need to piss, and now his body's hellbent on getting knocked up. Jacked up hormones ain't easy to deal with even when you know what's coming.”

Yeah, Dean had heard this crap before, from Dad and Sam and even Bobby. How being a beta meant he couldn't understand what the rest of the world went through. He'd heard it plenty.

“Like I said, we'll get him on suppressants.”

#

“Dude, Cas, you're getting ripe again.” Dean wrinkled his nose, tasting the slightest stir of pheromones. When he'd been fully mojo'd, Cas hadn't smelled like much. Even Sam said he couldn't even tell that he was an omega. Or wearing one.

Castiel didn't look up from his book. “I showered this morning and applied deodorant.”

Sam glared at Dean over his laptop. “He means that you're going into heat again.”

Castiel shifted in his seat. It was about as close as he got to showing nerves. “I'm aware. I've already called Jo.”

“You called Jo?” Dean asked.

“For sex,” Castiel clarified. “I thought she'd be amenable.”

“You know she's not some booty-call, right?” Dean tried not to clench his fists.

Castiel's forehead pinched, but he didn't ask Dean to define 'booty-call.' "I think I retain just enough Grace to stop the suppressants from working."

Sam stopped typing. "But not enough to stop you from going into heat? I'm sorry, man. That sucks."

Castiel nodded. “It's not ideal.”

“You can't keep doing this,” Dean said. "We're chasing the apocalypse. We can't hole up every time your vessel pulls a fast one.”

“Dean!” Sam slammed his laptop shut.

Castiel clenched his jaw and stood up, his movement freeing pheromones to waft. “I'm still falling, Dean. Eventually the suppressants will start regulating my cycle, and I won't have to concern myself with this.”

“With what? Fucking Jo?”

“With having _Jo_ fuck _me_.” Castiel squared his shoulders. “You and Sam can continue tracking down Lucifer. Jo said she knew someplace where we could safely seclude ourselves. We'll meet again after I'm through my heat. There's nothing else to be done.”

Castiel stalked out of the room.

Dean felt like shit, and not just because of the look Sam was shooting him.

“You're going to have to talk to him.”

“I know, Sam.” Dean swallowed the last of the beer he'd been drinking. “I probably should wait until after his heat, though.”

“He's not that far gone, and he should be fine around you.”

 _Around you._ Yeah, Cas was so fine around Dean, he hadn't bothered to mention his heats until Jo'd already plowed him. Dean felt a little like baring his teeth, which would be fucking ridiculous, coming from a beta.

“I said I'll do it later. After he and Jo get back from … wherever they're going.”

#

Jo texted every night. Not much. 'Still alive' and 'We're probably through the worst of it,' before finally asking where Sam and Dean were headed. They gave her the name of their motel in Noxapater, Mississippi, since they'd stumbled upon the kind of ritual murders that heralded demons.

By the time she and Cas go there, they knew they'd been dealing with a serial killing son-of-a-preacher ghost, which came as a relief, because that's how fucked up things had gotten lately. Cas still wore his suit, but there were circles under his eyes, and he walked with a slight hitch. Jo was buttoned down and tired-looking, her hair pulled back in a rumpled ponytail.

Castiel nodded at Sam and Dean. “Do you need me for anything?”

“Nah,” Dean told him. “This one's tied up.”

“Then I'll … rest. Jo purchased a room.” Castiel hesitated too long, like he was waiting for something. Dean wondered what rest meant, exactly. Had Cas started sleeping?

“It's fine, Cas,” Sam said. “It's good to have you back, man.”

Castiel huffed, because marathon sex wasn't enough to dislodge the stick up his ass, and stalked off.

Jo caught the door before it stopped swinging behind him. “You boys need any help?”

“We're good,” Dean snapped, before Sam could open his big mouth.

Jo looked taken aback.

Dean backtracked. “It's just a salt-and-burn, and you've gotta be tired–”

Jo's eyes narrowed.

“—from that drive,” Dean finished.

“I'm feeling fine. Some might say rejuvenated.”

“Can the alpha crap,” Dean said. “It's an easy job, and you spent the better part of a week helping Cas. You can't tell me you ain't tired.”

“I got some shut-eye on the way back.”

“The hell you did. You were driving.” Dean stood up and glared down at Jo.

She stepped into his space and glared right back. “It's not your job to tell me what I can and can't do. I've cut my teeth on enough cases to know my limits.”

“Whoa,” Sam said. “No one's questioning anyone's ability to do the job.”

“Sure sounded like someone was.” Jo's lips lifted, revealing canines. Sam was probably getting a good whiff of alpha aggression, but that shit was wasted on Dean. “What's your problem, Dean? So I fucked Cas when he needed it. You don't have to be a dick about it.”

“I don't give a shit about that!”

Awkward silence.

Dean frowned at Sam, who wasn't exactly jumping to his defense.

Sam sighed. “You've been upset since Cas' first heat.”

“I've been upset since Lucifer left his cage.”

Great, and now Sam was looking wounded. Dean scratched a hand through his hair, frustrated. “Fine. We'll all go on the hunt. It's no skin off my back if anyone sleeps through the job.”

#

The salt-and-burn went just as easily as Dean said it would. He tried not to be too smug about it, but Jo still gave his arm a half-hearted punch when they were walking back to their cars. “You're so _dumb_.”

He rubbed his sore arm. “What's that supposed to mean?”

She chewed her lip. “I'm only gonna say this once. A lot of omegas like me to ride them though their first rodeo. Less now, but in high school and college? I was the safe choice. All the knot, half the size. An alpha with training wheels.”

“You shouldn't let people use you like that.” Dean had only done that the once, when he was the only beta guy at a freaking tiny high school. He'd slept with his one and only omega, a sweet-looking chick named Cynthia, only to see her move on to an alpha with a real dick. He hadn't minded much. There were always a beta woman or two, if not in school than at the local bar.

Jo grinned. “Now you're talking like I didn't have my own fun.”

Dean didn't want to think about the _fun_ she'd had with Cas. “There a point to this talk?”

“Sure is.” Jo's expression went hard and firm. “Some things ain't about you, Dean. Even when it's your friends doing them.”

She strode off to her truck. Dean watched her go. Silently, he called bullshit. Cas fucking Jo had nothing to do with him. Cas keeping his heats from him sure did.

Sam was already in the passenger seat when Dean slid into the car.

“You know she was going to speech at me?” Dean asked, already knowing the answer.

Sam tapped his nose. “Her scent went sharp, like she was going to confront someone. Not that I needed to smell her. She's been fuming at you since this morning."

Sam did that a lot: point out something his nose noticed, then say he could've figured it out anyway. Dean didn't need to hear how his powers of observation sucked as bad as his sense of smell, especially since he'd pulled Sam's ass out of the fire enough times to know it wasn't true.

“You want to talk about it?” Sam asked.

Dean reached for the radio. “That'll be the day.”

#

Jo and Cas were on the other end of the motel, so it wasn't like Dean could hear their bed moving. He knew they bunking together though, which likely meant that they were having a heck of a lot more fun than he was, staring at the ceiling and listening to Sam's snores.

Feeling restless, he tugged on his jeans and boots and grabbed his car keys. Turning on a light might wake Sam, but his baby's trunk was never out of whiskey.

He ended up leaning against her, looking up at the stars, letting grain alcohol do its work. He felt the air move. Heard wings.

"Hello, Dean."

Dean turned and saw Cas, looking as alien as he ever had. It was enough to put an ache in his chest. “Looks like you can still fly at least.”

A beat.

“It uses more energy than I should spare,” Cas said, finally.

Dean took another swig from his bottle. “So you zapped yourself twenty feet?”

“Like you said, I still can.” Cas didn't sound accusatory. He didn't need to. Dean knew the price he was paying for telling his brothers to fuck themselves. He had heats now, for crissakes. If Jo wasn't careful, she could stick a baby in him, and Dean sure as hell didn't need to picture that.

Dean ran his tongue over his lower lip, not sure what to say. “Jo okay with you running out on her?”

“She's asleep. I didn't need as much time to recover.” Castiel lifted his chin. “I also didn't spend this morning on a hunt.”

“It was a small job, Cas. We didn't need either of you there. Jo's just stubborn.”

“I should've been informed. I can't find you and Sam, not with the sigils on your ribs.”

“You could've found Jo.”

“I offered her that protection as well, while I still have the ability to carve the sigils. Anyone close to you can be made vulnerable.” Castiel closed his eyes. “In heat, I'm more human than I've ever been. It's … isolating, to be in a body.”

_Whoa, tiger._

Yeah, Dean bet Cas felt real isolated with Jo's knot in his snatch.

“I need some shut-eye.” Dean stuffed the bottle in his jacket. “See you tomorrow, Cas.”

"Dean."

Dean glared at him.

Castiel huffed and looked away, looking pissy as all hell. "Goodnight, Dean."

#

The next day was spent combing the news for another case. There were enough things going wrong that they wouldn't have much trouble. That left them considering disappearances in New Mexico versus decapitations in Oklahoma. Jo favored some cult-looking thing in Killeen,Texas, since it was less than a day's drive. She didn't seem in any hurry to get going. Maybe that had something to do with the way she kept draping herself over Cas, who looked he'd seen Christmas each and every time. Maybe that was why she kept on doing it.

Dean sure hoped he wasn't going to have to deal with alpha-omega lovebirds on the road. Was Cas just going to let his heats continue? Expect everyone to hold up while his body did its damn best to get pregnant? Dean wasn't even sure Jo was looking for anything that serious. Or that Cas was. What was he going to do if one of them hurt the other? Knock both their heads?

Dinner was at a some dingy local diner, where Jo kept shoving food in Castiel's direction, and Castiel kept taking bites here and there. Dean saw Sam's eyebrows lift, but he had to be the one to say something. “You eat now?”

Cas stared down at the half-bitten fry in his hand, like Dean had asked a trick question. “My head started hurting last week. The pain eased when Jo convinced me to try." He set down his fry, then blotted his fingers on a napkin. "I don't think I'm at the point of needing regular meals.”

Jo nudged Cas' side. “You like fries better with a chocolate shake. Want me to get you one?”

Castiel gave her a soft look. “Maybe later.”

Jo slung an arm around his shoulders. Castiel seemed to like that, too. Of course Jo got this weird, cuddly side of Cas, while Dean got hostility and lies. Maybe they were both trying to fuck with him. It wasn't like he and Jo had parted on the best terms, before the apocalypse put her back in his orbit.

"Maybe we should head up to Sioux Falls," Dean said.

Everyone looked at him.

Dean moved what was left of his meatloaf and gravy around his plate. The day's special. "It might be a good idea for Cas to stay with Bobby for awhile.

Sam kicked him under the table. "Dean."

"Don't give me that shit. He's falling fast, and what help is he gonna be without his mojo? He doesn't even know how to work a gun. He's better off staying out of it, and we all know it. _He_ knows it, even if he doesn't want to." He risked a glance at Cas and saw the angel staring daggers.

"This is my fight, too, Dean. My cause. I am not an invalid, nor am I useless. I haven't stopped my search for God."

"Yeah, and how long are you going to be able to keep that up? Last night you told me you're barely flying."

Cas looked away, his jaw tight. Jo knuckles were white where she gripped his shoulder.

Dean slid out from the booth. “When I get back, there better be pie on this table.”

The diner had alpha and omega bathrooms, which sucked. Dean opted for family rooms when he could. Diners tended to attract the kind of alphas who noticed if your dick was twenty-five percent smaller than the alpha average.

The room was empty—until Cas followed him right in.

At least Dean hadn't unzipped yet. “Dude. Wrong bathroom. Omegas have their own.”

" _Enough_ , Dean." Castiel's hands clenched at his sides. “I don't know what you expect of me. I can't help that my vessel's an omega or that my powers are fading. I've been dealing, Dean! As best I can. Why can't you?”

“Now's a bad time, Cas. Anytime a man's standing in front of a urinal, it's a bad time.”

Castiel stepped forward. “Do you consider omegas that weak? Do you dislike Jo that much?”

Dean held up his hands, because those were bad, bad roads. “Hold up. I like Jo just fine, and her _mom's_ an omega.”

Silence. Castiel's head tilted to the side, like someone had cut half its strings. His glare didn't lose any fire.

Dean elaborated: “Ellen's the last person I would call weak.”

"You had no issue declaring that of me. Have you forgotten that I'm a soldier? That I raised you from Hell? That I chose to pay this price?"

Dean ran a hand over his face. "No."

Castiel's voice went ragged. "I like Jo. Is that a problem for you? You were uncomfortable with her interest in you, once."

Who'd said that? Jo? Sam? It wasn't any of Cas' business who Dean wanted in his bed or if he didn't like the alphas sniffing after him like he wasn't just as male as they were. Jo was more flexible than most, but Dean hadn't known it at the time, and there'd been Ellen ready to rip him a new one. “That wasn't … We're past that. That's water under the freaking bridge.”

“Then, _why_? I know jealousy isn't behind your ire.”

Dean boggled at that: Cas thinking up and discarding the idea that Dean might want him. “Shit. No.”

Castiel raised an eyebrow. “No?”

“ _No_. Jesus, Cas." Dean stared up at the ceiling. Saw mold and a couple water stains. "I thought we were friends, then you don't bother telling me anything that's going on with you? I have to find out when I walk in on you and Jo?"

“That was over a month ago.”

“You didn't say anything this last time either.” Dean ignored the fact that Sam would know damn well, maybe even before Cas. People weren't too attuned to their own smell.

“I took care of it.” Castiel stared right past Dean. “Sam suggested I tell you, but I didn't want to hear about the burden I'm becoming. I didn't want to deal with your discomfort along with my own. Sex is … undignified. Heat-sex is even more so. It wasn't information I wanted to share."

Dean tried to ignore the pang in his gut, the one that meant: _this one's all on you_.

“I enjoyed my time with Jo, as much as it could be enjoyed.” Castiel's gaze slid to the side. Dean had a feeling he'd _enjoyed_ himself more than he wanted to admit. "She's a good friend.”

“Great. You and Jo are friends.”

“It's nice to have a sum total of three.”

Shit. Cas had given up Heaven. He'd gone from heavenly choir of a family to a backseat with him and Sam and Jo on speed dial. Dean didn't have the right to act hurt when it came to Cas, who wouldn't be dealing with any of this shit if Dean hadn't talked him into defying the master plan.

Dean sucked in a breath. “You're right. I'm sorry."

Castiel was unmoved.

Dean tried again. "I shouldn't have been giving you such a hard time about your heats. You don't have to report to me. I'm not your keeper, and you're dealing with them fine. I'm just … Dammit, Cas. I'm sick of shit being kept from me. First Sam. Then you. The rest of the world thinks it can pull the wool over my eyes, just because I can't always sniff out what they're up to. I have a hard time when that shit starts coming from people I care about."

A pause.

“I'm sorry if I made you feel inadequate,” Cas said. “That wasn't my intention.”

“I overreacted. That's not on you. It's fine.”

“It has nothing to do with your status. Biological distinctions mean little to me, except when I'm in heat. Social ones mean nothing.” Castiel cleared his throat. He'd probably gotten some talk-it-out tips from Sam, but that just wasn't Dean's style.

“I still gotta hit the head, Cas.”

Cas was hovering now. When had he gotten so close? "Betas aren't defective, Dean. They were designed.”

"Tell that to the omegas of the world."

Castiel squinted at him, clearly confused.

Dean waved a hand. “Don't worry about it. It's fine. We're good. You can't stay in here, man. Sooner or later an alpha's gonna walk in.”

Cas hesitated. His nostril's flared, like he was gearing up for a big whiff.

"Whoa, no. You don't want to do that—"

Castiel's eyes watered. He made a weird croak.

Dean grinned. He couldn't help himself. He clapped a hand to Cas' shoulder. "Alpha piss and musk, man. These places reek."

Castiel looked him up and down, eyes wide, like he'd just been slapped with something.

Dean's skin prickled for no damn reason. He kept running his mouth: "Don't smell me, Cas. It's weird, and you're not gonna get much outta my scent."

Castiel's throat moved, but he didn't say a thing. He disappeared.

While he still could.

#

By the time Dean got back to the table, there was a slice of apple pie waiting for him, and Jo had gotten that milkshake for Cas, who was dipping her remaining fries with absolute focus, like he hadn't had some kind of sniff-related episode in the last ten minutes. 

"You good?" Sam asked.

Dean nodded, not wanting to talk about it anymore than he already had. "Yeah. Me and Cas worked it out."

"I told them as much." Castiel spoke like that was that. Maybe it was.

Dean got down to shoveling pie and Reddiwhip, so it took him awhile to notice that Cas kept shooting these weirdly fascinated looks, first at Dean, then at Jo, then back again. Jo seemed to find it hilarious, considering the cornball grin on her face. Fine, then. He wasn't gonna begrudge them their fun. It was the end of the world. Misery came easy enough.

Still, Dean nudged Sam, hoping his alpha brother could give him some sort of clue. Sam just looked scandalized, or maybe constipated.

“What?” Dean asked.

Sam's whole face screwed up even tighter. “You don't want to know.”

“Oh, I dunno,” Jo said. “He might. We'll fill him in later. Won't we, Cas?”

“Yes.” Castiel smiled a small smile. “I think we will.”

###


End file.
